Daily News: Philly-based cyber school surrenders its charter after months-long investigation

Frontier Virtual Charter High School CEO John Craig.

Frontier Virtual Charter High School, a Philly-based cyber school, gave up its charter last week following state Department of Education orders, the Philadelphia Daily News reports.

The Daily News has followed the story since March, when it revealed that the school had only been paying its teachers half-pay for months and that many students were “habitually truant or failing their classes — or both.” The state investigation also found that the school “didn’t supply students with promised laptops, printers and Internet reimbursements.”

The idea behind the school, according to Frontier’s CEO John Craig, was that a cyber charter could reach more students.

In his first story about the school in March, reporter David Gambacorta took a look at the bigger concerns surrounding cyber charter schools:

Lawmakers and advocates have long had concerns about the financial and educational oversight of cyber charter schools.

The schools are approved and overseen by the state department of education, but local school districts are on the hook for paying for each of the students without any say in how they’re run.

The Philadelphia School District, for instance, is spending $45.8 million on more than 4,800 cyber charter students this year. [more]